I thought this episode was pretty good. Finally the other dragons get in on it more! The orange dragons were really cool and vicious. I think they've been modelled off some sort of dinosaur, I think a dilophasaurus (spelt very wrong there <_< ) without a frilly bit.
Parm was actually scary! :blink: For all of three seconds anyway... he did knock down Artha in the Dragon Booster suit. And sticking the red gear to him was funny!!! Hehe.

Artha/Moordryd handclasp OMGSQUEE!!!!!

Parm and Kitt have chemistry. She’s an immature little twat who doesn’t even care about her own ignorance and there’s still Sidekick Overload, but at least there’s some spark there. She shouldn’t have attacked him right after LANCE made the derogatory remark about women, though, or sent him flying off in the final segment of the race, which was irresponsible.

Bringing me on to my next point, there's an implicit contradiction in maturity levels: though the so-far-known Crew Leaders are ALL teenagers and ten-year-old Lance is participating in the big marathon race, the main characters STILL act like modern-day teenagers. Surely a higher standard of maturity would be expected in the world, and lived up to? Hundreds of years ago in our own world, after all, women in their early teens were getting married and running their own households (cf. Romeo and Juliet). Adolescence and the concept of 'teenager' is a phenomenon common to our specific time and place, and I don't think it belongs in Dragon City.

Propheci should not have completely changed his prejudices about members of a particular group based on one action of one member of the group. Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. (POLITICS. Yes, Republicans KNOW there are decent Democrats out there. It doesn’t mean they aren’t wrong.)

“Lance the mini-Mortis”. HOW FREAKING OBVIOUS CAN YOU GET?

My favourite ep yet, though. :)

I don't think Propheci totally changed his opinion. He does take back control of Reepyr to have the last word.
If it makes you feel better, at least Moordryd didn't seem at all changed after Artha rescues him. *Lets them fall and snerks about it* Go Moordryd. :)

Yes, which reminds me...

To what extent is Reepyr controlled by Propheci? Because to take one extreme, at the end Propheci is still speaking through him so he's still controlled, yet to take the other, he says that he CHOSE to bond himself to a dragon and doesn't seem to mind Propheci's control over him. What do you all think? And if he IS controlled, does that say anything about the show's ethics?

Methinks it sounds like they agreed to be controlled by the dragons because they thought they were right, but that doesn't mean they neccisarily like being controlled. Reepyr doesn't look to happy when Propheci takes contol of him again. I'd say they did choose, but perhaps felt forced to that decision.

And Artha leaves Reepyr under mind control. What does that say about his ethics?

Well, technically, Reepyr still seemed to have wanted to stay with Propheci.

Yes, I actually do agree with that, that Reepyr still wanted to be bound to Propheci. It's certainly a situation that's open to debate, though, and looking a bit iffy...

I liked Repyr, the SOO obvious Parm/Kitt tension, Moordryd's neck cricky moment (Woo!), the way kitt said the mini Mortis line was cool, although it was so obvious. The orange dragons had that funky outside brain thing going, like a silkie rooster.

The way they got that gloomy atmosphere on that mnetal bit of track was cool, made it look really cold.

That Kitt used her Dragon's energy to save Parm. Tension, dammit!

Will nit pick when I'm not tired. :)

I think a Kitt/Parm/Artha love triangle would stand a chance of being quite interesting, actually, provided it wasn't more inane teenage stuff.

And could also actually work as a threesome, I think--Parm loves Artha, how much unknown, Parm/Kitt tension of the bickering-but-still-friends sort, Artha/Kitt attraction...

Alright, one thing at a time ^^

Teenagers- wellt he most obvious reason they still act like children is because that's what the viewrs can identify with.
The more subtle reason, I think is their situations aren't all that desperate. They're leaders of groups yes, but heck, how many teenaged sporting groups out there are actually mature? They enjoy a basic kind of fame, which is an ego boost, and they're doing what they love= security. They've pretty much had the run of the city, And in Artha's case, he's only just lost his parental figure, so up until that point he's been secure in his kid role. Now althoguh Papa is gone (well, as far as HE knows) he has Mortis *rolls eyes* and he's got a heck of a lot of sudden power, and no threat on his lifestyle.
And letting Lance race? I don't think they have an age limit on racers- at least it appears not...

the Reepr mystery? I figured that he let himself be used when he first met Propheci, that was his last act of free will, so therefor not actually defying his dragon. And no, i think his "political views' are the same, he's just grudgingly had to admit that the Dragon Booster might possibly be telling the truth about HIMSELF- not nessicarily the rest of human kind though.


Uh, as for pairings? Well, i dunno about any tension between characters. I'm a bit innocent minded about cartoons. nothign else, mind... ;)

What I loved? Silly things, the detail in the arms of Artha and Moordryd when they were hanging onto each other- their forearm muscles were defined. I was impressed- that type of muscular detail is only ever used in comics. The Dragon's personalities, and how in sync with the riders they were.

Oddly enough I didn't really like this eppie. Don't know why. Perhaps it was the lack of Moordryd *laughs* I know it was, by the standards of the others, much better plotwise, the Horn of Libris remains my favourite.

I disagree. I know why the writers made Artha et al behave like teenagers, but in the world it can't be justified.

Crew-leaders? They're all in their teens, and still expected to act like experienced leaders.

Kitt? Has presumably been living on her own for years. Being the 'best racer in Dragon City' should involve a lot more self-discipline and maturity than she's so far shown, I have to think.

Artha? Yes, he would have felt secure enough to be childish under his father's command, yet from canon evidence I would still assume that people have to grow up fast in Dragon City.

Especially if ten-year-olds are allowed to compete in dangerous races. We've seen Lance allowed into a lot of dangerous situations and dangled upside down by Beau--child abuse, in our world, yet they don't even consider that this might be inappropriate.

I think it's pretty clear that, in Dragon City, kids are expected to grow up early, and for Artha and co. to act like teenagers in our world just doesn't make sense. Acting like young adults--early twenties, still young, yet still very adult--would be a more realistic level of maturity, I think.

Yes, I'm really hoping we haven't seen the last of Reepyr and Propheci. :)

You have points, but I still don't really see much of an immaturity level. *laughs* then again, one of my 23 YO friends lives on his own and has painted himself red and climbed on rooftops, hissing, for photography purposes- coveredhis friend in baked beans and cockraoches (also for photos) and perched and the back of a train seat staring at some idiot teenages with an insane grin just to freek them out, another friend, 25, walks calmly up to people at train stations and asks them if he's wearing pants. When they say yes, he sayd "oh! That's a relief!" and walks off- so I guess we have different definitions of maturity...

I think little things like Kitt deliberately disorienting Parmon during the big race (at the end of the ep) and really, Artha's attitude for a lot of the time, not to mention the whole "girlfriend" deal, count as immaturity. The kids act like modern kids, not the adults they should be by Dragon City standards, and that bugs me.

This is one of my favorite episodes. Not sure if I'd say it tops "Horn of Libris" on my favorites list, but it's up there. This episode is written and directed by Steve Ball who also directed "Horn of Libris." I like his style and I hope he does some shows in season 2.

I particular like the fact that the whole team of all 8 humans and dragons are in every scene from start to finish. I found it provided a nice group dynamic and I had been wanting to see them all working together like this. I also liked that all the dragons were included at the beginning to hear about the legend and get the advice for the upcoming race from Mortis. It shows that they're supposed to be more than just horses for a change since what Mortis has to say is as much for them as it is for the humans. And given that we finally get to hear a dragon expressing himself with language we can understand, there can be no more doubt that at least some dragons are fully sentient.

I also liked that the story in this episode is a change of pace. It's not just the usual "defeat Word's evil scheme of the week" approach. It's something a little different for the group to do. I like variety like that. We also pick up a little tidbit about the first war: that the original Dragon Booster had the Prophets as allies. And given that Artha saves Propheci's life at the end, I think the writers are leaving the door open for Propheci to return in a future episode. At least I hope they are. I like Propheci and I'd like to see him and his crew in action again.

I also think they did a good job animating Propheci. His movement was reasonably smooth and I liked his expressions. And when he was hanging onto the ledge at the end, you could see his legs beginning to tremble as his muscles started to give out. Nice little touch. The animation on the human characters looked stiffer than normal to me and there more shots than usual when some or all of them where frozen (like when they're around the camp fire at the beginning). Though I thought this was a reasonable trade off to make so they could put the effort into getting Propheci to look good and also put together the group shots of the other prophets.

On the subject of Reepyr, I think it was clear that he wanted to be there and wanted to remain as well. I think the idea was that Propheci specifically released control of Reepyr at the end so he could tell Artha himself that he chose to be there. If Reepyr didn't want to be bound to Propheci, then the first thing he would have done was leap off the saddle into Artha's arms and say "Get me out of here!" But instead Reepyr just recounts that they voluntarily gave themselves to dragon-kind and says that Artha and his friends may go, basically saying that he plans to stay. So if Reepyr wants to stay and be under Propheci's control, then I don't think Artha has any obligation, ethical or otherwise, to do anything.

Also, I didn't think Propheci completely changed his mind about humans. I think he only conceded that there were some humans who were worthy and could co-exist well with dragons when previously he believed there were none. So I think Propheci is willing to trust the new Dragon Booster and his friends (and perhaps be an ally again), and basically he'll just take a less closed minded view of other humans and not be so quick to judge them in the future.

Funniest moment for me: when Cyrano is equally horrified at the suggestion that he looks like Parmon as Parmon is at looking like him. :)

I missed this episode! I'm so mad, because it sounds good!

What's the re-run schedule like for you folks? Do you have to wait long if you miss one?

Dragon Booster shows on two channels here and it's on like 12 times over the next two weeks. All re-runs of course. The last new episode aired on 4/9 and there's still no word on when season 2 will begin.

We don't get re-runs. They may repeat the series after six months/a year. Maybe. Which is why I tape. ;)

We don't get re-runs either. They'll probably repeat it eventually.

Wow. So if you miss an episode, you really miss it. Bummer.

Everything is re-run like mad here. Even live action series will start showing re-runs during the holiday periods just a few months after they originally aired. So if you miss something, you can generally catch it within 3 months. Animated series are recycled even faster. New episodes of Dragon Booster are aired twice on both channels during the first week they're shown, then added to the re-run rotation within a few weeks. This can be kind of handy when you come in after the beginning of a series like I did. It only took me a few weeks to catch up on all the previous episodes.

Interesting difference in TV viewing preferences.

I've only seen about three Dragon Booster eps. Guess I'll just have to hope they release a DVD!

They are supposed to. I have the manager of our local CD store keeping an eye out for me. :)

Wow, sounds like they repeat everything in America.

Right, the show is supposed to be released on DVD through FUNimation. No word on a date though. My guess would be around September (at least for North America).

And yeah, pretty much everything gets repeated here, except things like news, sports, and talk shows. A weekly series will have two 13 episode seasons a year, which leaves the other 26 weeks for re-runs. In a typical series, every episode is shown twice that year. Dragon Booster's got an odd schedule though, so I don't know when the second season will begin.

This has been my favourite episode yet! It certainly brightened up a dull afternoon. The orange dragons looked excellent, especially the exposed brain and sinister facial expressions, and did I mention the exposed brain? I think it would have been interesting if Moordryd had actually become trapped with the group, which is what I actually had thought had happened at first. One thing I didn't understand is why the other orange dragons abandoned their leader so quickly.

Parm's line about cheese cracked me up, I don't know why...it just did. I get this feeling that this part of the series, where the Dragon Booster gathers allies, is going to be a lighter predecessor to a darker next season or later part of this season, set during the Dragon War, either that or it will be gathering allies throughout the series with the Dragon War crammed into one episode, I hope not.

Parm and Lance looked drugged out, I found that funny :P . And Parm WAS scary! I'm interested to see if that leads anywhere.

Oh, and about Artha. Even adults who are expected to be responsible and hold up the foundations of society act childish and immature at times, take the bar room brawl for instance, and my sister whose been in the army and so has had alot of responsibility acts really occa.

As for his morals, Artha's a bit like a newbie superhero, right now he's young and arrogant like so very many people I know, he probably doesn't fully understand the responsible he's been handed just yet, but that's what character developement is for. Hey Furox, you're ahead of us right? Do you know if any good episodes are coming up?

Natalily, I love you're banner! :lol:

Artha's irresponsibility and arrogance irritates me, because he's supposed to be a chosen hero; yet, from his behaviour--some of which doesn't even seem to be RECOGNISED by the authors as wrong--he couldn't have been the best choice. (Parm, the Plot Device, is a walking information repository with no significant flaws. Even Moordryd would probably do a better job). All of which adds up to one thing: Canon Sue. Artha gets a free ride. He's overpowered and annoying and stupid.

And I know it IS possible to write genuinely heroic people who somehow manage to be not irritating, and not Sues either. (See also, other fandom. And a hero who would never have let the Muhorta have Word. Impractical-and-naive-but-noble type.) Flaws, yes, help. And, yes, absolute power...is absolutely cool! But Artha has flaws that a Destined Hero should not, and that makes him a Canon Sue. And even if he does develop in character...he'll still have been this horrible brat in the beginning which still makes it completely improbable for him to have been chosen when almost anyone else would've done better, and I'm not holding my breath.

Sorry to beat the dead horse.

You're right, there was no reason for the orange dragons to abandon their leader. They're meant to be warriors, right? Bringing back a dragon-human war so the dragons can win? Clever, crafty saboteurs? They shouldn't have left their leader like that. Total contradiction.

And I know why they did it: so Artha could look good. Which is "manipulating characters for the sake of a Message/Plot Point," and which is BAD.

I'm not sure a dragon-human war is going to start. I think if it did it would be very interesting, but I'm not sure the rating will allow for it. At the moment I'm more inclined to think that the series will run in one long series of near-catastrophes and various conflicts, ending on a finale of war nearly starting but Word being completely defeated just in time. Hoping for a war to actually start, but not holding my breath.

Sadly you're probably right about the Dragon-Human War, although I can't help but thinking that all the allies they've been gathering must be for something, one big final battle against Word perhaps? It's sad the rating is so low as a Dragon-Human battle would look excellent with that animation, I've got a strange sort of Lord of the Rings image in my head at the moment.

If Artha had to face more angsty and stressful situations (the kind that normally happen with a higher rating *sigh*) he'd have to take on more responsibility and become more mature. I'd imagine being "The Chosen-One" isn't about how you acted as a teenager, as Artha has to face the flaws in his personality, is forced to make sacrifices and finds that being the hero isn't all fun and games, his personality will change and then he will become a true hero. Maybe he wasn't picked for who he was but for who he was destined to become. If you want to get all soppy anyway. :blink:

But if we have

(Artha = cocky annoying brat) + (Mystical Amulet Of Legend) + (Time) = (Hero)

Then surely

(Other Character = NOT cocky annoying brat) + (Mystical Amulet Of Legend) + (Time) = (Even Better Hero)

I don't understand the argument that "the sole purpose of a mystical amulet is to give one person the chance to become a hero". Because if it would've made almost anyone into a hero, shouldn't it have chosen someone more promising to start with? (And of course there's the other problem, that the thing's just SO DARN POWERFUL that it can overpower anything and so if the wielder has the remotest inkling of morality they WILL save the world.) I don't buy, "Yeah, we did this just to turn one not-particularly-interesting-yet-not-evil teenager into a hero". Not worth it, surely.

Because, let's face it. Can't you see Parm or Kitt or even Moordryd doing a better job?

This is where I get sort of soppy. I personally believe that everybody is not who they come across as, but who they really are is at the core at each individual. Maybe, at Artha's core he is the hero, or, his DNA just matches Boa's so that they can meld, I'm guessing it's a mixture of the two. I can't really argue further without getting philosophical, well I guess I could...er...I'll get back to ya.

I like all 3 remaining episodes in season 1. Each one is good in its own way. Sometimes there a good story/character arc element, and some are just plain fun to watch.

The next episode called "Pride of the Hero" is one no one here will want to miss. Do whatever you have to do to be home that day or triple check that your VCR is properly set. Seriously.

Pride of the Hero was on 2 weeks ago here in washington state... must say that was a great episode! dont miss it! you'll be shocked to see what happens!

I liked the style of humor in this episode as well. The gag about Parmon and Cyrano looking alike, Kitt and Parm teasing each other a bit, and so on. For me, this type of comic relief works better than some of the more blatant slap-stick comedy they put in other episodes. Too much slap-stick doesn't set the right tone, or at least not the tone I'd like to see in the series. One of the reasons this episode stands out more for me.

Since they've mentioned parmesan cheese, I guess we can assume the Italian culture exists in some form. Maybe we'll see them ordering a pizza some day. :D

Woo! That's the Moordryd one, innit? Yes! :D

My poor guitar teacher, he has to wait for me to press record in the middle of our lessons. :rolleyes:

That's my hope as well. The first season has a real feeling of "preparation before the storm" to it and I'm hoping it's not just a feeling, but actually where the writers are going with it. If that's the case, this could turn out to be a really fun series. There are some interesting things we could talk about from a story structure point of view. I think this would be worth having its own thread so I'm going to write up some stuff and post it as a new topic and we can continue this discussion there.

I'll see you in that thread then :)

We're never told in this story what Moordryd and Cain are doing there on track just before Artha and gang show up. Shall we speculate what it might have been?

The possibilities that occurred to me are:

1. Moordryd and Cain were in the race themselves and took another path that lead to the same point, getting there slightly ahead of the others. They were ambushed by the orange dragons just as they said.

2. Moordryd and Cain are on a mission from Word to investigate the legend and see if the Prophets really exist. The legend of dragons controlling humans would no doubt be of interest to Word.

3. Moordryd and Cain are there specifically to set a trap for Artha and friends with his goal being to dispose of a racing rival. In other words, Cain's warning is a setup as is Moordryd's call for help. It's all just to lure them into the trap so Artha falls to his doom. They may or may not be aware that the legend is real.

What do you think?

I thought it was a combination of 2 and 3. While they would have been aware of the legend (to add substance to their planned trap), I'm of the opinion that it was a largely faked effort designed to make Artha et al lose the race (Kitt should be feared competition for them anyway, even if Speshul Artha's still a newcomer). Cain's screaming struck me as a trifle too melodramatic, as did Moordryd conveniently losing his grip at just the right moment, and of course if Cain and Moordryd had genuinely encountered something like that a better strategy might have been to recruit Penn Racing as backup. Also, if Moordryd had been genuinely attacked, the inference would be that Decepshun was lost or dead, and somehow I don't think she'll disappear in future episodes.

Whether or not they do know about the orange dragons will probably be confirmed in future episodes, but I would put my money on 'not,' as if Moordryd and Cain knew about them they would probably make moves towards eradicating them. They would have to, considering that they aim for humans to win the war and that Word Paynn is probably one of the orange dragons' targets for sabotage considering his political views. I can see a plot involving Moordryd/Cain/Word versus the Prophets Crew, but that would deserve an episode in its own right. At the moment I believe that while the Prophets are discreetly attacking Word, he does not know about them.

Actually i thought it was one, from what I've gleaned from tearing apart the foundations of the character development Moordryd just wouldn't risk his booty by hanging off a cable just to lure Artha (who i might also add, is nothing more then an annoying new racer- remember they DON'T know he's the Dragon Booster) And the point that delighted me so much (the strain Moordryd showed in holding on) more then hinted he was having trouble.
I'm not sure Word would order the Dragon Eye crew to miss an incredibly important race just to test a theory.

But if one is true, then Moordryd is now missing a dragon. (Decepshun didn't seem to be around. She could have been picked up by the orange dragons as Artha et al were, but as Moordryd is decent to her and/or she's influenced by black psi gear I'd assume she'd be one of the dragons they dislike. Ergo, if the fall was genuine, I don't expect to see Decepshun in future episodes.)

I'd assume they weren't waiting for Penn Racing specifically, as they'd have no way of knowing which team would take that route (unless Word has some eavesdropping gear he hasn't told us about), though they could have been: Kitt's supposed to be the best on the tracks, remember.

I'm also sure that Moordryd wouldn't want to miss a race just to test a theory, which suggests that at least part of his motivation was to throw off the other racers (remember, the route in question WAS a shortcut, probably one with great potential). If he really had encountered the orange dragons, he would have to react to them a lot more than he's shown, ie. getting Word on the case, investigating, etc.

I'm agreeing with Natalilly, and saying one. Moordryd is NOT going to hang off some flimsy cable just to set a trap. Although I did wonder where Decepshun got off to, though I assume she must've turned tail as soon as the orange dragons appeared.